


The Shadow Fox

by KatherineAliceBeckettCullen



Category: Castle
Genre: Canon Relationships, Crime Fighting, F/M, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Suspense, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 14:41:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5460152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatherineAliceBeckettCullen/pseuds/KatherineAliceBeckettCullen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beckett and the team are challenged when a case resembling the murder committed by Rathborne enters their lives. Will the 12th figure out who the killer is before it's too late? Or will one of their own be taken from them? Part 1 of The Shadow Fox Trilogy; rated M for violence and some Caskett. Previously posted on Fanfiction. Please read and review!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or show, but I do enjoy borrowing them for fictional purposes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Some background before we get started. When I started writing this trilogy, it was just after the third season's finale.  From that perspective, this story takes place 2 years after season 3 ends.  Beckett has solved her mother’s murder case and Beckett and Castle are dating.  Alexis was planning on going to Stanford at the end of season 3, so in this story, that's where she is going to college.  Ryan and Jenny are married, and Esposito is interested in Lanie.  I will not be changing this story to line up with what happened in the show, so this is technically non-canon.  There will be some violence and some romantic scenes, thus the mature rating.  I am new to the site, so please be patient with me as I learn the ropes.  Once I know what I'm doing, I should be able to post twice a week on a regular schedule.   Enjoy!

 

Chapter 1

Beckett looked up as a drop of water landed on her cheek.  _Great, it really was going to rain_.  At least the crime scene was indoors.  Looking back down at the entrance of the building, she saw that her two favorite detectives were waiting under the awning.

“Hey guys,” said Beckett as she reached them.

Ryan glanced up from his notebook, “Hey, Beckett.”

“Have the uni’s and CSU finished up out here?  It looks like it’s going to rain soon.”  Beckett glanced skyward again, “I don’t want to lose any evidence to the weather.”

“Yeah, they should be done.  Found a footprint under that window that might be from the perp.”  Esposito pointed to a low window, probably belonging to a basement unit.  “The grate and window were jimmied open, and it looks like they might have found a partial.”

Beckett glanced to where the CSU’s were working, “Anything else?”

“Looks like there was a camera over at that intersection,” Ryan said, gesturing to it.  “I’m going to check and see if it picked up anything helpful.”

“Great.  Castle here yet?” Beckett knew that Castle had been writing his latest book when she left the loft that morning.

“Yup, I called him after I got the scoop from Lanie.  He arrived a few minutes ago and just went up to see what she found,” Esposito glanced at his notes, “basement unit, number six.”

“Thanks guys,” Beckett called over her shoulder as she turned to go inside.

Beckett went down the stairs to the basement.  The paint on the walls was peeling, but there was a patch that looked like it had been hammered badly, maybe during a struggle.  Looking at that section closely, Beckett saw that there was a little blood on the wall about head high.  A couple blond hairs were caught in a crack between some of the peeling paint. 

She turned to a CSU down the hall, “Hey, have you seen this?”

The woman looked up from examining the door knob, “No, did you find something?”

“It looks like there was a scuffle here; see all the paint on the floor?” Beckett gestured to the paint peels on the ground, then back at the wall and added, “And right here is a little blood and some hair.”

“I’ll bag it. Thanks.”  The CSU took a couple evidence bags and tweezers from her kit.

“Get a couple pictures too, before you bag the samples.” Beckett wanted to put the pictures on the murder board.  Hopefully it would help paint the picture of what happened here, no pun intended.

“Sure, detective.”  She bent down and grabbed her camera too.

“Thanks.”  Beckett ducked under the tape into the apartment on the end.

The victim was on the floor in the kitchen.  His hair was blond, meaning the hairs and blood in the hall were probably his, unfortunately.  He had been stabbed repeatedly and there was blood everywhere.  Lanie was bending over him, her back to the door, and examining something low on the back of his torso.  Castle was watching her work. Beckett noted that something about his expression reminded her of someone being visited by a ghost.

Beckett strode over to the kitchen and joined them.  “Hey Lanie, what have you got?”

The ME consulted her notes.  “White male in his 30’s, preliminary COD is stabbing with a sharp object.”  Beckett looked at the set of knives on the counter; Lanie saw the look, “I already looked at the knives here and none of them could have made these wounds.  I’m going to guess, based on the shape of the wound and the slight tearing on one side, that it was probably a dual edged blade with a serrated section toward the top, probably a hunting knife.”

Beckett bent down to examine the wounds. _Something about these wounds seem familiar_ … “Any ID?”

“Not on him, but it looks like his wallet got thrown under the entertainment center over there.”  Lanie nodded in the direction of the system.

Beckett turned to Castle.  _What was he thinking?_    “You okay Castle?”  Castle only nodded.

Lanie stood up and faced her friend.  “Kate, honey, I need you to stay calm.”  _That was never accompanied by good news._   “There are some stab wounds on his lower back that look similar to the ones Coonan used.  Now, I won’t be sure until I get him back to autopsy, but it looks like either Coonan trained someone before he died, or this is a very good copycat.  I just wanted to let you know now so you don’t chew me out later.”

Beckett felt like the world had tilted off its axis.  _No, not again_.  Castle was watching her with a worried look on his face, and she knew that she must have just gone pale.  Quickly, she forced her brain to think about more than just her dread.  Lanie was talking, but Beckett couldn’t seem to hear her.

Beckett forced her brain to return to the conversation. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“I was asking if you were okay,” Lanie repeated, “you kind of went pale and rigid.  I was starting to worry.”

“Um, yeah, I’m fine.” Beckett cleared her throat and shook her head to clear it.  “Do you have a time of death yet?”

“Judging from the state of decomp. I’m guessing between 1 and 4 am yesterday.  I’ll know more when I get him back to the morgue.” Lanie dropped her professionalism, “If you need something, call me, even if you just want to talk.  Okay?”

Beckett nodded, “Thanks Lanie.”

“Sure, honey.”  Lanie patted her arm and then went back to examining the body.

Castle came over to her and placed a soft hand against her cheek while pulling her close with the other.  He tilted her head back so he could look at her eyes.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”  Beckett knew that this was a lie, but she didn’t want to talk, at least not here.

Castle knew she wasn’t being completely honest.  “You sure?”

“Castle, we’re at work.  We’ll talk about it later.”  Beckett hoped he would get the message.

He did.  “Okay.  We’ll talk when we get home.”

Castle gave her a quick kiss on the lips before letting her go and looking around the kitchen some more.  Beckett also looked around the apartment to distract herself from the news Lanie dumped on her.  It was well furnished, despite being one of the basement units.  Pictures along the wall suggested that he lived alone, but one on the coffee table suggested he was dating an attractive, brunette woman.  Something about her looked familiar, but Beckett couldn’t place what.  Turning from the picture, Beckett saw the entertainment system.  It wasn’t top of the line, but it was good.  Beckett crossed the living room and bent down to fetch the wallet from under the unit.

“ID says the vic is Brian Watson, 32.  He lives at this address.  Cash and credit cards are gone though.”  _Poor cover-up job by the killer._

Castle saw it too.  “Robbery wasn’t the motive.”

“How do you figure?” Lanie had wandered over, probably to keep tabs on her friend.

“If it was a robbery, the thief would have tossed this place or at least taken some of the electronics.” Beckett looked around the room.  “Did he have a cell phone?”

“CSU already bagged it.  It was punctured by the knife.  Maybe there’ll be some trace on it.”  Lanie picked up the evidence bag it was in.

“So the perp wouldn’t have taken it anyway, it was ruined.”  Beckett took a quick look.  “Okay.  Thanks, Lanie.”

Lanie returned the phone to the box of evidence and went back to the kitchen.  Beckett and Castle left the apartment and found Ryan and Esposito heading their way.

“You already done?” Esposito said, sounding disappointed.

“Yeah, Lanie and the CSU’s are finishing up.  You find anything else?”

“Only that the cameras at the intersection were not working.  It looks like the box the cameras are hooked to was tampered with.  CSU’s didn’t find any usable prints.  So we don’t have a visual of what happened.”  Ryan was also disappointed.  No video evidence meant the killer was careful.  “We canvassed the neighbors, no one heard a thing.  Most weren’t home that day.”

“Okay, find out what Mr. Watson does for a living.”  Beckett handed the wallet to Esposito.  “I’m going back to the office to find out who the girl in this photo is.”

“Sure, boss.”  Esposito took the wallet and headed into the apartment, and to his fiancé.

Beckett went outside.  The rain was falling heavily, and Beckett just wanted to stand under the building’s awning and watch it fall.  Castle stood next to her and left her to her thoughts for a moment.  When the coroner’s van arrived, her gently touched the small of her back and guided her out of the way. 

Castle pulled her close again.  “You ready to go yet?”

Beckett sighed, “Yeah, let’s go.”

Castle sensed that she was reluctant to go back to work right away.  “Want to grab something to eat before we get back to the precinct?”

“Sure.”  Beckett turned to the car, then back to Castle.  “Hey, Rick.  Thanks for understanding.”

“Always,” He whispered the one word that always melted her heart, and then he continued. “I’m going to guess this feels like when Jack Coonan was killed.”

“Yeah, like a sucker punch to the stomach.  Almost like Rathborne’s back from the grave.” Beckett shuddered at the thought.  “Come on.  Let’s get out of here.”

As Beckett ran through the rain to her car, she couldn’t help but hope that this could be just a nightmare she would wake up from at any moment.  But even as she thought that, she knew it wasn’t true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Let me know what you guys think and stay tuned for more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters. Just borrowing them for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thanks for the kudos on the last chapter and sorry that I didn't post sooner. Life and holidays got in the way.  Just a quick reminder on the story's background: this story takes place 2 years after season 3 ends. Beckett has solved her mother's case. Beckett and Castle are together, Alexis is at Stanford, and Ryan and Jenny are married. This chapter starts a few minutes after the last one ended. Enjoy!

 

 

Chapter 2

Rain continued to pour as Beckett and Castle entered the café near the precinct.  After they ordered, Beckett stared out the window at the rain and thought back to the day Dr. Clark Murray, Castle’s Dr. Death, told her that the wounds in Jack Coonan’s body were made by the same knife that had killed her mother.  That day, it felt like her world had turned upside-down; today was almost the same.  Thoughts swirled in her head in a repeating loop.  _Had Coonan really trained someone?  Who would he trust enough risk it?  Was it someone he had served with?  Maybe this was Rathborne’s trainer._   Castle cleared his throat when he saw their orders coming, but Beckett didn’t hear him.  She was startled when her plate was put in front of her, but she recovered quickly.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling at the waitress.

Castle started to eat his cheeseburger almost as soon as his plate was on the table, but Beckett just picked at her chicken breast and vegetables. 

Finally, Castle couldn’t take the silence any longer.  “Penny for your thoughts.”

Beckett responded as if in a daze, “Huh?”

Castle chuckled quietly and continued.  “You’ve been staring out the window for a while.  I was wondering what you were thinking about.”

“Oh, um...”  She seemed to be struggling with her thoughts.

Castle decided she needed a prompt.  “Yes?”

Finally, Beckett figured out how to phrase her answer.  “Just thinking about the last time I got this kind of news.  Trying to compare how it felt.  Trying not to think of going down the rabbit hole again.”

“What did you come up with?”  Castle thought he knew, but wanted her to answer.

“It’s not as bad as last time, and yet it’s ten times worse.  I don’t know; it doesn’t make sense.”  Beckett was having a hard time choosing the right words for her thoughts.

Castle didn’t need her to explain any more, he knew what she meant.  “Yes it does.  It’s better in that you are not looking for the same person who killed your mother, but it’s worse because we don’t know exactly what, or who, to look for.”

_This is why they were perfect together._   “Exactly.”

Castle thought that maybe building theory would help Kate clear up her thoughts.  “Well, what do we have to go on so far?”

“Not much.” Beckett welcomed the distraction from her scattered mind.  “Lanie’s autopsy should help in filling in some holes.  CSU’s will give us a better look at what happened at the scene.  We need to track down the girlfriend.”  Beckett’s cell phone started to ring.  She glanced at the caller ID before answering.  “Hey, Lanie.  Yeah.  Okay, we’ll be there in a half hour.”  She hung up and looked up at Castle.  “Lanie’s ready for us.”

“Okay, let’s get you a box, you’ve barely touched your food.”  He glanced at her when she didn’t respond.  “Unless you don’t want it?”

Beckett shook her head.  “No, that’s fine.  I’ll eat it later.”

Castle hailed the waitress over, asked for the boxes and paid for the food.  Beckett sat in the booth and considered making a call to her father, but then realized that this wasn’t the right time.  She didn’t even know if the killer was like Rathborne.  She gathered up her things and headed to the car, Castle two steps behind her.  Running through the rain, she thought she saw someone watching her, but when she looked again, there was no one there.  Kicking herself for being paranoid, she climbed into the car and pulled away from the curb.

* * *

Lanie was just finishing up her paperwork when Becket and Castle strode into the morgue.  The first thing she noticed was that Beckett’s mind didn’t seem to be on Earth, let alone in the morgue.  _Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to warn her earlier.  I hope my girl can handle this._ She decided to bring Kate’s focus back to her job.  “Before we begin, I would like to ask Detective Kate Beckett to join us in the morgue.”

It worked.  “Okay, Lanie what have you got?”

Lanie turned the vic’s body so that Beckett and Castle could get a clear view.  “Just as I thought, our victim was stabbed with a low angle thrust to the kidney which is also the COD.  The knife on that blow was twisted.  Mr. Watson would have gone into shock immediately.”  She gestured to the remaining wounds on his torso.  “These other six stab wounds were done to try and cover up the real COD, just like Rathborne, and were delivered after the vic was on the ground.”

Beckett was all business now.  “So Rathborne did train someone else.  What else can you tell us?”

“The thrust angle indicates that the killer was between 5’5” and 5’8”.”  Lanie consulted her notes.  “Now the interesting thing is that the wounds in this victim don’t penetrate as deep as the wounds in Rathborne’s, but there was still a slight amount of bruising around the kill blow.”

Beckett was confused.  “So?”

“So, I’m saying that the killer didn’t use the same amount of force as Rathborne.  Which means that the killer may not be a man; it could be a woman.”  Lanie didn’t have to wait long for Beckett to grasp the fact that the suspect pool had just grown.

Castle however was surprised.  “A woman?  How could a woman do all this?”

Beckett decided to play with him.  “What, Castle, you’ve followed me around for how long and you don’t think women are capable of doing something like this?”

“It’s not a question of strength…”

“Castle, believe it or not, many of the best hit men are thought to be women.”  She turned back to Lanie.  “Did you identify the knife that was used?”

“Yes, I did a wound tract mold and the knife appears to be an Mtech Military Tactical Survival Knife, also known as a Wingwalk.” Lanie held up the impression she got from a wound tract.  “They’re popular with ex-military and survival experts.”

“Was the knife sharpened?” Beckett wondered if the killer was anything like Rathborne. “Any fragments from the knife in the wound?”

Lanie consulted the chart.  “There were no fragments in the wounds, though a couple of ribs were hit.  And the knife wasn’t sharpened, at least not much more than general upkeep.”

Beckett started to sum up what they had learned.  “So the killer is possibly ex-military…”

Castle interrupted, “Rathborne was special forces.”

She continued as if she hadn’t heard him.  “…between 5’5” and 5’8” and could be either a man or a woman.  They use the same M.O. as Rathborne, but they don’t hone the knife the way he did.  Did CSU find anything on the cell phone?”

“There were some prints, but they belonged to the victim.  I sent it up to Tech to see if they could pull anything from the sim card.”  Lanie picked up the victim’s file.  “Here’s the file; the photos of the stab wounds and the mold are in there.” 

Beckett took the file and glanced through it.  “Thanks Lanie.”  She and Castle turned to leave.

Lanie had a sudden thought.  “Hey Kate, could I talk to you really quick?  Not about the case, just a quick talk.”

Castle took the file from Beckett.  “I’ll get the board set up.”

Castle left and Lanie pulled Beckett from the morgue into her office.  “How are you doing with all this?”

Beckett’s immediate response was to go on the defensive.  “I thought this wasn’t about the case.”

Lanie took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.  “It’s not, not directly anyway.  It’s just, I saw you when I brought up Rathborne this morning.  I thought I was going to need a stretcher for you too.  What’s going on?”

“I just,” Beckett took a deep breath.  “I thought I was over it all.  My mother’s case, the search for Lockwood, Montgomery’s murder, arresting the sons of bitches that started the whole thing.  I thought I was finally moving on.  And now this.  Is it ever going to end?”

Lanie saw the pain her friend’s eyes.  “Kate, honey, you don’t have to go through it all alone; we’re all here for you.  Look at Castle; he would do anything for you.  It took you getting shot for you both to realize what you had.  As for when this will end, I can’t answer that, but I know you will find the answers.  Come here.”

Lanie pulled Beckett into an embrace.  She tried to put all the love and support she could into the hug so that Kate would know just how much she cared.  Beckett needed this and was grateful that she had a friend, a whole team of friends, who were willing to do whatever it took to help her.  Then she heard a low cough behind here.

“Something you girls need to tell me, chica’s?”  Trust Esposito to ruin the moment.

Lanie wasn’t amused.  “Ha, ha.  Javier, do you have any sense of tact?  At all?”

Esposito ignored Lanie’s comment.  “Hey, Beckett, I found out that Brian Watson was a low level accountant at a law firm.  It’s Bretz and Coven, LLP on Broadway.  And the girl in the photo works there too, Jessica Gardner.  She was his supervisor.  They broke up last week.  Apparently it was ugly.”

Beckett was glad for the distraction.  “Let’s bring her in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you like it. I know that Beckett is going through some tough emotions right now, but I promise that won't last too much longer. Please review; I would like to know what you think. Stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Castle, or the characters. Just borrowing them for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: This chapter is longer than the last couple, but hopefully you like it. It’s mostly an interrogation scene, so lots of dialogue. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Beckett stood in the observation room and looked through the glass at the woman sitting there.  The woman glanced around the room while she waited, seemingly very interested in the glass.  If Beckett didn’t know better, she would say that the woman was looking right at her.  Beckett still couldn’t shake the feeling that had started in Watson’s apartment; she had seen this woman before.  Beckett turned away from the window as the door to the observation room opened.

Ryan walked in and handed Beckett a folder.  “I ran that background check you asked for.  Jessica Gardner is clean, but her identity is only six months old.  She isn’t who she says she is.”

Beckett was intrigued.  “Okay, I’m going to ask her about that, if she gives us another name, run it.”

“Got it.”  Ryan went to the computer and logged in.  “Ready when you are.”

Beckett left the observation room and almost ran into Castle as he brought her a coffee.

“No time for that Castle, the girlfriend is here.”  Beckett was impatient to figure out why “Jessica” was using a false identity.

Castle turned as Detective Karpowski walked by.  “Hey, Karpowski.”

Karpowski stopped and turned to look at him.  “Yeah?”

Castle held up the espresso.  “Want a coffee?”

Karpowski looked confused.  “Sure.”  She took the cup.  “Thanks?”

Beckett rolled her eyes.  “Come on, Castle.”

With that, Beckett walked into the interrogation room.  “Jessica” sat up and looked at the detective with complete calm.  _Let’s see how long that lasts._   Beckett sat down and just looked at the woman for a few moments.  She seemed innocent, but then, so had Coonan the first time she talked to him.  When she could see that “Jessica” was getting a little uneasy, she opened the folder Ryan handed her and glanced at the information.

Jessica finally cracked.  “I’m sorry, I don’t understand why I’m here.”

Beckett looked up from the folder.  “We wanted to ask you a few questions.”

Jessica looked confused.  “About... what?”

Beckett stayed relaxed.  “About Brian Watson.  How did you know him?”

Jessica was still confused.  “We work together at Bretz and Coven.  We were also dating.”

Beckett decided to keep things light, at least for now.  “How long were the two of you dating?”

Jessica answered quickly.  “Four months.  Why?  Is he in trouble?”

Beckett ignored her question.  “Why did he break it off?”

Jessica couldn’t figure out what was going on.  “He didn’t.  I did.  He was moving things along faster than I wanted them to, so I told him it was time for us to break up.”

Castle decided to needle her a little.  “That’s not what your co-workers said.”

Jessica became defensive.  “All they heard was the fight we had because I ended it.  Brian didn’t want to move on; he wanted us to move in together.”

Beckett could see it was time to catch her off guard.  “Is that why you killed him?”

“Wait, he’s dead?  When, how...” Jessica sputtered, then became shocked, “you think I did it?  What makes you think that I had anything to do with it?  I would never hurt him!”

Castle decided to give his theory.  “I think that he found out that you weren’t who you said you were, and so you had to silence him.”

Jessica grew wary.  “What are you talking about?”

Beckett took the offensive.  “Jessica Gardner doesn’t exist.  Credit history only goes back six months; it’s the same with your background check.  So who are you?”

Jessica went pale.  “Can you promise you won’t tell my boss?” 

Beckett wasn’t going to make any promises.  “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t?”

Jessica decided to take the plunge.  “Fine, my name is Alexandra Stevens.  I work for a national investigation company that specializes in finding financial fraud.  The top partner of Bretz and Coven discovered that there may be an embezzlement scam, so I was hired to find out which employees were involved.  The real reason I broke up with Brian was that the relationship was a lie, but he thought it was real, so I ended it to minimize the damage.  The fight was just for show.  I knew that there were rumors that I wasn’t who I said I was, so I wanted to give them something else to gossip about instead.”

Beckett was surprised, but she hid it well.  “Why were you dating him in the first place?”

Alexandra sighed.  “When I first got to the company, it was easy to see that he was involved with the scam somehow.  Dating him got me access to the how.  Plus, I had to find an excuse to be in his office a lot.  I’m an accounts supervisor, so I had access to records Brian didn’t, but the records that I was getting looked doctored.  I was using my access to him to look at the original documents.  He was only entry level in the scam though.  I’m working on finding out who he was working with.”

Castle asked the obvious question.  “Did you?”

“Yes, some of them, but it goes higher than I’ve had time to figure out.  Or the access for that matter.”  Alexandra became hesitant.  “I have a suspicion that one of the Junior Partners is involved somehow.”

Castle jumped in again.  “When was the last time you saw Brian?”

Alexandra thought back, “That would be when we were leaving work last night.  We were in the elevator together.  He was trying very hard not to look at me, like I didn’t even exist.  Is he really dead?”

Beckett thought it was time to see if she had an alibi.  “Where were you last night between 1am and 4am?”

Alexandra knew the answer wouldn’t clear her.  “Home, alone, asleep.”

“Can anyone confirm that?”  Beckett hoped that there would be a way to confirm Alexandra’s story.

Alexandra shrugged.  “Maybe my neighbors.  I know I said hello to Mrs. Grovener when I passed her in the hall.”

“We’ll be checking that out.” Beckett decided to change tactics.  “Do you know of anyone by the name of Richard Coonan?  He would be about 45.”

Alexandra blinked in confusion.  “No, I don’t think so.”

Beckett tried again, “He may have gone by Dick Coonan.”

Alexandra thought about it, but shook her head.  “I know a Dick Walters, but he’s an eighty year old man that just restructured his will with us.”

“How about the name Rathborne?”  Beckett was hoping that one of the names would be recognized.

Alexandra was still confused.  “No, I’ve never heard that name.  Why?  Do you think these men are connected with Brian?”

Castle ignored her question.  “The Junior Partner you’re investigating.  Is he capable of murder?”

“Not directly, no,” Alexandra paused, “but I wouldn’t put it past him to hire someone to do his dirty work.  He doesn’t exactly have a clean reputation.  What happened to Brian?”

Beckett pulled the crime scene photo out of the file and set it on the table.  “He was stabbed to death in his apartment.”

Beckett felt bad about being so blunt, but she wanted to see Alexandra’s reaction.  Alexandra gasped and looked shocked.  She quickly turned the photo over and took a deep breath to steady herself.  Beckett was distracted by a knock on the window.  She gathered up the file and left the room, Castle close behind her.  Ryan was waiting for them in the observation room.

“Alexandra Stevens checks out.  Her current employer is Hardy and Drew Investigations.  They specialize in credit checks, financial fraud, and investigating art theft and forgeries.”  Ryan held up a printout.  “Stevens is one of their best.  About a year ago, she was assaulted by one of the employees she was investigating in Chicago.  Apparently she has been using false identities while on the job ever since.  She was moved to their sister company in London for a while and then transferred here.”

Beckett looked at the paper.  “What else did you get?”

Ryan hesitated before continuing.  “Stevens is her adopted name.  She was orphaned at eleven when her father was killed in ‘99.  Her name was Alexandra Murray.”

Beckett realized why she recognized her face.  “Was her father Scott Murray?”  Ryan nodded.

Castle recognized the connection.  "Her father was killed by Rathbourne."

Ryan held up another printout.  “Yeah, after that, she was shuffled into the system and adopted by a Michael Stevens.  They moved to California soon after.  Then when she was 16, they moved to Chicago.  Not too long after she graduated from college, Hardy and Drew hired her.”

Beckett looked over the second printout.  “Where is her adopted father now?”

Esposito walked in and answered Beckett.  “Dead.  He died in a car accident just before she graduated.”  He handed her a copy of the death certificate.  “It was a nasty accident too.  Apparently they had to identify him using dental records.”

Castle turned to look at Alexandra.  “She probably never learned that her real father’s killer was found.”

Beckett wasn’t so sympathetic.  “Just because she had a tragic past doesn’t mean she’s innocent.  Though I doubt she did it.”  She turned to Esposito.  “CSU’s finished with her apartment yet?”

Esposito handed Beckett the report.  “Yeah, nothing there that indicates she was the killer.  No Wingwalk or other survival type knives.  There were traces of blood in the sink, but it was animal.  Trace is analyzing it.  They also canvassed the neighbors.  Many of them remember her coming home and not leaving again until this morning.”

Beckett nodded.  Things were getting strange.  Alexandra’s father was killed by Rathborne, and now her ex was killed the same way.  _Maybe it was time to figure out just what she knew; if she knew anything_.  Beckett returned to the interrogation room with Castle.  Alexandra seemed to have regained her composure.

Beckett began talking as she sat down.  “It appears that Alexandra Stevens checks out.  Although, that isn’t your original last name, it is?”

“You found out I was adopted.”  Alexandra’s voice was careful, tinged with pain, as though this wasn’t the first time her past had come up.  “I guess you know that my father was killed when I was eleven.  And that my mom left us when I was a toddler.  Maybe you’ve also learned that my adoptive father was killed in an accident just outside Chicago; an accident so bad, they had to use dental records to confirm that it was him.  You know, I still don’t know if the man who killed my real father was ever caught?  So yeah, my life wasn’t easy.  That doesn’t make me a killer.”

Beckett let her vent, then continued the interview.  “You work for Hardy and Drew Investigations, is that correct?”

Alexandra’s voice was steady now.  “Yes.”

“Do you always use false identities?”

“No, I haven’t always.  I used to just use my real name, you know, keep the lies simple, they’re easier to believe.  Unfortunately, in Chicago, one of the employees I was investigating caught onto the act.  He realized that I was there to investigate the company’s financial activities.”  Alexandra pulled the sleeve of her shirt up to her elbow and then presented Beckett and Castle with her forearm.  A long scar ran from her wrist to her elbow.  “He attacked me in a drunken rage.  Left this on my arm.  When he sobered up, he realized what he did and knew that it was only a matter of time before the cops found him and arrested him for it.”

Castle’s curiosity was peaked, he loved a good story.  “What happened?”

Alexandra shrugged.  “He killed himself.”  She pulled her sleeve back down.  “Since then, my company has helped me set up false ID’s to protect my identity and safety.  Usually they ‘kill’ the ID when I move from one company to another.  Jessica Gardner was created for this job.  I had never used it before now.”  She tried again.  “Look, I’m not done with my investigation; could you please not tell my boss the truth?”

“How are you going to explain being dragged into the precinct?”

Alexandra shrugged.  “Easy, just say you wanted to question me about Brian’s habits, changes in behavior, that sort of thing.”

Beckett was satisfied, but reluctant to make a promise to a suspect.  “Fine.  But, there I have a condition.  As long as you cooperate and give us all the files you have on Brian and the company, we won’t reveal your real employer and what you’re really doing.”

Alexandra nodded.  “Okay, but there is one problem with that.”

“What is that?”

"I’ve created my own language that I use while on the job.  Only I ever know what my notes really say.”  Alexandra decided to simplify.  “I’m going to have to translate it for you.”

Beckett wasn’t fazed.  “I’m sure our financial guys can figure it out.”

Alexandra smirked.  “Do you have a piece of paper?”  Beckett handed Alexandra a sheet.  After a few moments writing, she handed it back to Beckett.  “Give this to them and see what they say.”

Beckett looked at the paper.  It made no sense whatsoever.  It looked like shorthand, but she had never seen shorthand like this.

Alexandra chuckled.  “That’s how all my notes look, so unless your guys are fluent in this, they won’t understand my notes at all.”

Beckett relented.  “Fine, bring them in after you get off work tonight.”  Beckett started to put her file back together.  “You’re free to go.  But don’t leave town.”

Beckett got up and strode out of the room.  She went into the break room and started up the espresso machine.  Castle gently took the cup from her hands and offered to get that for her.  Beckett relented and sat down at the table and stared at the girl’s shorthand.

Castle tried to help lift her spirits.  “You know, I once tried to do something like that when I was just starting out.  I always forgot what symbol stood for which words.  She’s very smart.  And she has a good heart.”

Beckett had to bite.  “What makes you say that?”

Castle continued.  “The tragedies in her life.  Mom leaves her, dad is murdered, loving adoptive father dies in an accident, and yet, she still finds a way to rise above all that.  Not unlike you, you know.”

Beckett smiled.  “Yeah, she does seem like she’s trying to make the most out of life.”

Castle handed Beckett her coffee.  “Do you think she did it?”

Beckett hesitated, thought about it and then dismissed it.  “No, the evidence doesn’t point to her.  And she has an alibi.  It’s soft, but it’s solid.”

Beckett saw Alexandra being escorted out of the interrogation room.  _Perhaps a little closure would be good for her_.

“Alexandra,” Beckett called to get her attention.  Alexandra turned.  “I just wanted to let you know that the man who killed your father, he was finally caught; as were the people that hired that man.  It took thirteen years, but your father’s case is finally closed.”

Tears came to Alexandra’s eyes, though she tried to maintain her composure.  “Thank you, Detective.  It’s nice to know that he was finally caught.”  She took a deep breath and her self-control returned.  “I’ll bring those files over tonight.”

Beckett watched as Alexandra turned and entered the elevator.  As the doors closed, Beckett felt Castle come stand behind her and give her a hug.

“One more victim gets closure.”

Beckett brought a hand up to squeeze Castle’s.  “Yeah.  Come on Castle, we have a case to solve."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Feel free to leave a review or kudos. I would love to hear your thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Castle, or the characters. Just borrowing them for a while.

Chapter 4

Beckett stared at the murder board as though the solution would just pop out at her.  This was turning into her mother’s case already.  The hair and blood at the scene belonged to the victim.  The neighbors had been questioned, they couldn’t remember anything odd happening, though one remembered that Brian had slipped on a puddle of water that had been on the floor a couple days before his murder, so the paint fragments, blood and hair might have come from that.  Brian’s co-workers had been questioned, they remembered that “Jessica” and Brian had fought the week before he was killed, but there didn’t seem to be bad blood between them after the fight.  Some had thought that perhaps they had gotten back together; others thought that the couple had decided to remain friends, and only a few knew that the couple were definitely over.  No one seemed to know that “Jessica” was really Alexandra, and they didn’t know who would want to hurt him.  Beckett was praying for a lead, but everywhere they looked was a dead end.

Beckett glanced to where Castle was sitting.  He was poring over phone records while Ryan and Esposito were combing Watson’s personal financials.  Beckett turned as the elevator chimed.  Alexandra came in with a heavy box.  It looked like she had crammed as many notes into it as possible.

Beckett turned back to the boys.  “Esposito, can you give her a hand?”

He looked up.  “Who?”  Beckett nodded her head toward the elevator.  “Got it.”

Esposito got up from his desk and walked over to where Alexandra was standing.  He then took the box and gestured toward the conference room.  Beckett resumed staring at the murder board.  Castle got up from Ryan’s desk and joined Beckett.  He was about to ask her if she was okay, when Alexandra walked by and saw the detail pictures.

“Oh my gosh, who could want to hurt him like that?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”  Beckett noticed that she was carrying a laptop bag.  “Are your notes on there?”

Alexandra glanced down at the bag.  “Most of them.  I translated most of my notes onto here.  The last couple weeks aren’t translated yet, but that shouldn’t take long.”   She glanced over Beckett’s shoulder.  Ryan and Esposito had started to unpack her notes when they noticed that they couldn’t read any.  “It looks they’re confused, I should get to work translating the rest.”

Alexandra hurried into the conference room and got to work setting up her laptop.  Beckett returned to the murder board again, putting her hands on her desk as she leaned against it.  Castle cleared his throat to speak, and Beckett interrupted him.

“Rick, don’t.  I know you’re going to ask if I’m okay.  I’m not; this feels like my mom’s case all over again.”

“Kate, I’m just worried about you.  I don’t want to lose you to the rabbit hole again.”  Castle put his hand over hers on the desk.  “I love you.”

“I know.  And I’m trying not to lose myself.”  Beckett sighed.  “Come on; let’s get to work on those financials.  Maybe we’ll get a lead.”

Beckett strode into the conference room and Castle followed her.  Alexandra was directing Ryan and Esposito on how to stack the files as she hurried to translate more of the files.

“Alexandra…”

“Call me Alex.”

“Alex, what do you have done already?  I’d like to know where to begin.”

Alex appeared distracted.  “Right, um, well, the pile over here has been translated.  The problem is, I need this computer to translate, but everything I translated is on this computer."  She looked up.  "I could email the files I finished to you.  Then you can get started.”

Beckett and the boys gave her their department emails, grabbed their laptops, and got to work.  After a few hours of studying financials, Castle got up and went to the break room to get everyone coffee.  Once they were all done, Castle put the five cups on a clipboard someone left in there.  Walking carefully, he managed to get them all back to the conference room without spilling a drop.  Everyone thanked him, except Alex.

Alex shook her head.  “No thanks, I don’t drink coffee.”

Castle was stunned.  “I think you are the second person I’ve met that doesn’t.  Why is that?”

Alex answered with a question of her own.  “Why haven’t you met someone else that doesn’t drink coffee, or why don’t I drink it?”

“The latter.”

Alex shrugged.  “I hate the smell of it.  But, it’s fine, you guys enjoy.  I’ll live.”

After another hour, it was obvious that the only person who could understand the notes was Alex.  Ryan was just staring at the papers with a frustrated expression.  Esposito was going over the some of the translated pages, Beckett was slowly getting through her files, and Castle was playing Angry Birds on his phone.  Finally, Beckett looked up at the clock.

“Okay guys, let’s call it a night.  Alex, any chance you could have this completely translated by tomorrow night?”

Alex nodded as she typed.  “Well, they’ve all been translated.  I’m organizing them by employee now.  I should have that done by tomorrow.  Same time?”

Beckett nodded.  “That’d be fine.”

Ryan was already putting the piles of notes back into the box.  Esposito grabbed his jacket and Alex’s box and helped her out of the building.  Ryan grabbed his jacket and keys and called his wife Jenny to let her know he was on his way.  Castle had grabbed both his and Beckett’s jackets and helped her to put it on as she took one last look at the board.  She took a marker out of the tray at the bottom and wrote herself a note,  _“look at vic and company financials”_  ,before turning off her computer and desk light.

* * *

Dinner was leftovers.  Martha was out, performing in an Off-Broadway play that was hoping to get rave reviews and transfer to the “Legitimate Stage”.  Alexis was away at Stanford, and by the look of things, soon to be engaged to her boyfriend, Ashley.  Kate sat down at the bar to finish her chicken from lunch while Rick heated up some pasta they had made two nights before.  When the microwave dinged, Rick took his plate to the bar, opened a bottle of wine, and sat down next to Kate.  Now that they were home, alone, he felt it was time to ask the question he had silently been asking all day.

“Are you okay?  I mean really okay, not just ‘I’m-okay-at-the-moment-please-drop-the-conversation’, but really okay?”

Kate pondered the question for a moment as she chewed her food.  “No, I’m not.  Like I said at the precinct, it feels like my mother’s case all over again.  At least this time I know I have you and the boys to keep me from falling into that hole again.”  She turned and gave a forced smile to Rick.  “Look, I know you’re concerned for me.  I love that you are so caring and sweet and thoughtful.  It took me a long time to see it, and even longer to let you in, but just know that I know it now.  On the other hand, please don’t hover.  I still like being an independent woman, and having you hover over me like I’m made of glass is insulting.  This may be a hard time for me, and I do need your support, but please don’t be clingy.”

Rick laughed.  “I always try to fix things for the people I love.  Ever since Alexis was in high school, I’ve been told to back off.  So, Kate, I apologize for being clingy.  I just wish there was something I could do to make this easier on you.”  His face lit up as he thought of something.  “Oh, maybe I could talk to Dr. Frankenstein, get him to bring Coonan back to life, and we could ask him who his apprentice is!”

Kate took a sip of her wine as she smiled with a laugh in her eyes.  “That might help speed up the investigation, but seeing as Dr. Frankenstein is a fictional character, I don’t think it would work.”  She paused, and then became seductive.  “How about you just make me forget about it for a while?”

Rick leaned in and gently kissed Kate on the lips.  She responded by putting her arms around his neck and pressing herself to him.  Dinner was soon forgotten as Rick pulled Kate into his arms and carried her to their bedroom.

* * *

Beckett stared at the information on the murder board.  The pictures of the crime scene, the shoe-print, and Lanie’s autopsy were all there.  She had gotten a call from Tech earlier; the sim card took a direct hit, and as hard as they tried, they were unable to recover any usable data.  Any phone numbers that were on the card were missing half of the numbers, so there was no way to tell who the numbers belonged to.  To make matters worse, the trace from the knife that was in the hole in the phone came back to a standard batch of Wingwalk knives, available for purchase on any survival expert website; no foreign DNA or trace particles in the mix.  The shoe-print was from a running shoe, though it was hard to determine who would have wore it, the tread pattern was heavily worn.  To top it off, the partial fingerprint hadn’t come back from the lab yet because they were backed up.  Beckett sighed and was about to go to the break room for a coffee when Castle appeared at her elbow with one.

“Thought you might need this.”  Castle handed Beckett the cup.

“Thanks, I was just about to go get one.”  She took a sip, and then gestured to the board.  “This is definitely a professional hit.  The stab wounds, the lack of evidence, the cameras turned off, the cover-up.”

Castle interrupted.  “The poor cover-up.”

“Well, yeah.  But I don’t think they were really trying to cover it up. They just wanted to throw us off their trail a bit.”  Beckett took another sip of her coffee as Esposito walked up.

“There was a hit on the victim’s credit cards.  Uniforms just brought the guy who used them in.  Plus, we got a hit on the partial print.”  He handed Beckett a file.  “Meet Gerald Miller, and he’s got quite the jacket.  Two time offender for assault during a home invasion, been arrested five times for petty theft, and four times for burglary.  Only one conviction for burglary, but he did spend a nickel on one of the assault charges.  He’s on his way in too.”

Beckett’s interest was peaked.  “Let’s see what they have to say.”

Half an hour later, Beckett stepped out of the interrogation room after questioning the man who had used the vic’s credit cards.  He was a homeless man who claimed to have found them while dumpster-diving for food or anything else he could use.  The cards and the man’s prints had been sent to the lab.  Beckett was hoping that they would get prints from the killer off the cards, but considering how careful he had been at the scene, that was unlikely.  Castle joined her as he left the observation room, and together they returned to the murder board.  Beckett updated what little information they had.

Beckett turned to Ryan.  “Hey Ryan, I need you to run an alibi check for me.  Check and see if our homeless guy was at the shelter on 22nd on the night of our vic’s murder.”

Ryan grabbed his phone.  “On it.”

Castle turned to Beckett.  “Do you really think he did it?”

“No, but I need to rule him out."  Beckett smacked Castle playfully on the chest as she went back to her seat.  "Come on Castle, you know how we work.”

Esposito entered the bull pen.  “Yo, Beckett.  Miller just arrived.  He’s in I2.”

“Thanks, Esposito.”  Beckett grabbed Miller’s file.  “Let’s see if our burglar has added murder to his sheet.”

* * *

“Gerald Miller, I’m Detective Kate Beckett, this is Rick Castle.  We just wanted to ask you a few questions.”  Beckett wanted to make sure the Miller knew who was in charge.

Miller wasn’t about to be the coward.  “Hey, what’s going on here?  Why am I even here?  I haven’t done nothing wrong.”

Beckett smiled and arched an eyebrow.  _Two could play that game_.  “Really?  Is that what you’re going with? By the looks of your record, I don’t really believe that.”

Miller wasn’t going to bite yet.  “Hey, listen, I went straight after my last arrest.  And that’s the honest truth.”

Beckett leaned forward and put her arms on the table.  “Then would you mind explaining how your fingerprints ended up at a crime scene?”

“What crime scene?”  Miller was nervous now.

“A basement unit of a building on West 34th.  It belonged to a man named Brian Watson.  He was found dead in his apartment.”

“What, and you think I did that?”

Castle spoke for the first time since he walked in the door.  “You have been known to assault people.”

Miller tried to act tough, but he failed miserably.  “Yeah, but I never killed nobody.  And I’ve never been to that guy’s place either.  You’re looking at the wrong guy.”

Beckett leaned back in her chair.  “You know, that’s funny, because we’ve got your prints at a murder scene, a rap sheet full of burglary arrests, and a history of violence.  So what happened, Gerald?  ‘Cause this is what I’m thinking.  You jimmy the window grates open, snuck into the apartment, and that’s when Brian surprised you.  He was going to call the cops, so you had to silence him.  How am I doing so far?”

Finally, Miller caved.  “You got it all wrong.  Yeah, I was there.  I’d been casing the joint for a couple of weeks, you know learning his schedule.  That night, I went in through the window, but I swear, I didn’t jimmy the grate, it was already open.  I thought it was broken or something.  I went inside, started looking around, and that’s when I saw the dude.  He was already dead.  I took one look and got the hell out of there.”

Beckett rolled her eyes.  “And you expect me to believe that?”

“That’s the truth.”

Castle decided it was time to get his alibi.  “Where were you between 1 and 4 am two nights ago?”

“At a club two blocks away.  I was sitting at the bar until about 3:30.  That’s when I left to walk to that guy’s place.  I got there about 3:45.”

Castle asked the next question.  “Can anyone confirm that?”

“Ask the bartender.  He should remember me.”

Castle shrugged and asked, “Bartenders must have a lot of customers.  Why would he remember you?”

“Because he kept asking if I wanted to get anything, and I kept telling him no.”  Gerald glanced around the room.  “Can I go now?”

Beckett started to gather her papers.  “You’ve admitted to breaking and entering a residence, and you think I’m going to just let you walk out of here?  Not a chance, Gerald.”  She signaled to the mirror and a uniform walked into the interrogation room.  “Your next stop is with booking.”

 

Beckett hung up the phone and groaned.  Lanie had narrowed down the time of death to between 1:30 and 3 am.  Esposito and Ryan had tracked down the bartender and confirmed that Gerald Miller had been at the bar until about 3:30.  And the shoe-print matched the shoes that Miller was wearing, so it wasn’t the killer’s shoe-print.  The shelter had confirmed that their homeless man had been at the shelter all night.  So the homeless man, Gerald Miller, and Alexandra “Jessica” Stevens were ruled out.  Without any evidence pointing to the killer, this case was going to become a cold case very soon.  Castle had grabbed lunch for the team and everyone was doing the same thing, eating and staring at the murder board.  Until the phone rang.

“Beckett.  Okay, we’ll be there in 15.”  She hung up the phone and turned to the team.  “We got another body.”


End file.
